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Seizure‐related 6 homolog (mouse)‐like 2 (SEZ6L2) was shown to be involved in transcription of a type 1 transmembrane protein for regulating cell fate. Until now, the expression and function of SEZ6L2 in various cancers, including colorectal cancer (CRC), were unclear. In the present study, we determined the expression of SEZ6L2 in a tissue microarray from patients with CRC and then, analysed the correlation between SEZ6L2 expression and the prognosis of the patients. Furthermore, the potential function of SEZ6L2 in CRC was determined using cell counting kit, colony formation assay and xenograft model in vitro and in vivo. Flow cytometry, Western blotting, immunohistochemical staining and a blocking experiment were employed to investigate the underlying mechanism of SEZ6L2 regulating CRC growth. Our results indicated that SEZ6L2 was significantly up‐regulated in tumour tissues of patients with CRC compared with adjacent normal tissues. Up‐regulation of SEZ6L2 was correlated with a poor prognosis in patients with CRC. In vitro experiments suggested that the knockdown of SEZ6L2 inhibits CRC cell growth and colony formation, but it has no significant impact on the invasion. The antitumour effects of shSEZ6L2 were also confirmed by a xenograft model. Investigations of the mechanisms indicated that the knockdown of SEZ6L2 impairs the growth of the CRC cells by inducing caspase‐dependent apoptosis, which was mediated by mitochondria‐related proteins. Furthermore, SEZ6L2 expression was inversely correlated with the expression of cytochrome C in malignant tissues in patients with CRC. Collectively, the present study indicates that SEZ6L2 is a potential prognosis biomarker and therapy target for CRC.

Centrin is a member of the EF-hand superfamily of calcium-binding proteins, a highly conserved eukaryotic protein that binds to Ca2+ . Its self-assembly plays a causative role in the fiber contraction that is associated with the cell division cycle and ciliogenesis. In this study, the crystal structure of N-terminal domain of ciliate Euplotes octocarinatus centrin (N-EoCen) was determined by using the selenomethionine single-wavelength anomalous dispersion method. The protein molecules formed homotrimers. Every protomer had two putative Ca2+ ion-binding sites I and II, protomer A, and C bound one Ca2+ ion, while protomer B bound two Ca2+ ions. A novel binding site III was observed and the Ca2+ ion was located at the center of the homotrimer. Several hydrogen bonds, electrostatic, and hydrophobic interactions between the protomers contributed to the formation of the oligomer. Structural studies provided insight into the foundation for centrin aggregation and the roles of calcium ions.

The adsorption behavior of apo-ciliate Euplotes octocarinatus centrin (EoCen) and N(C)-terminal domain of EoCen (N(C)-EoCen) at a glassy carbon (GC) electrode is studied by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and cyclic voltammetry (CV). Interestingly, the adsorption isotherms of C-EoCen, N-EoCen and EoCen at a GC surface differ from one another. It is considered to be associated with the different aggregation properties of three proteins. Furthermore, we analyze the metal-binding properties of centrin and the followed changes in protein structure upon metal-binding. Corresponding to the four binding sites of EoCen, it shows four no-equiv signals of CV or EIS change. It indicates that the four different binding sites of EoCen can be discriminated by the EIS titration curves, which is in contrast with conventional use of spectral method. According to the electrostatic potential at the molecular surface of proteins, the favored orientation of N-EoCen and C-EoCen on the GC surface is modeled. These models can well explain the results of titration curves of Eu3+ to N(C)-EoCen. This work has established the electrochemical methodology which can be used to measure metal-binding sites involved and reveal the contribution of each metal site to the whole protein conformational change.

Background Radiation pneumonitis (RP) is a common side reaction in radiotherapy for esophageal cancer. There are few reports about RP in esophageal cancer patients receiving postoperative intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT). This study aims to analyze clinical or dosimetric factors associated with RP, and provides data for radiotherapy planning. Methods We reviewed 68 postoperative esophageal cancer patients who were treated with radiotherapy at the West China Hospital from October 2010 to November 2012 to identify any correlation between the clinical or dosimetric parameters and acute radiation pneumonitis (ARP) or severe acute radiation pneumonitis (SARP) by t-test, chi-square test, and logistic regression analysis. Results Of the 68 patients, 33 patients (48.5%) developed ARP, 13 of which (19.1%) developed SARP. Of these 33 patients, 8 (11.8%), 12 (17.6%), 11 (16.2%), and 2 (2.9%) patients were grade 1, 2, 3, and 4 ARP, respectively. Univariate analysis showed that lung infection during radiotherapy, use of VMAT, mean lung dose (MLD), and dosimetric parameters (e.g. V20, V30) are significantly correlated with RP. Multivariate analysis found that lung infection during radiotherapy, MLD ≥ 12 Gy, and V30 ≥ 13% are significantly correlated with an increased risk of RP. Conclusion Lung infection during radiotherapy and low radiation dose volume distribution were predictive factors associated with RP and should be accounted for during radiation planning.

In this paper, we present a robust H∞ distributed power control scheme for wireless CDMA communication systems. The proposed scheme is obtained by optimizing an objective function consisting of the user’s performance degradation and the network interference, and it enables a user to address various user-centric and network-centric objectives by updating power in either a greedy or energy efficient manner. The control law is fully distributed in the sense that only its own channel variation needs to be estimated for each user. The proposed scheme is robust to channel fading due to the immediate decision of the power allocation of the next time step based on the estimations from the H ∞ filter. Simulation results demonstrate the robustness of the scheme to the uncertainties of the channel and the excellent performance and versatility of the scheme with users adapting transmit power either in a user-centric or a network-centric efficient manner.

Calcium bilirubinate (CaBR) is the main component of pigment gallstones. At present no crystal structure of CaBR is available. Extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) is a powerful tool for local atomic structure determination, but it is difficult to measure the EXAFS spectra of calcium in compounds. Strontium bilirubinate (SrBR) was used instead of calcium, because of the similarity of IR spectra between CaBR and SrBR complexes. In this investigation a series of SrBR was synthesized. FTIR and EXAFS spectroscopic techniques were adapted to characterization. The results provide evidence of SrBR formation. It follows that the first shell about Sr (II) of the neutral BR compound consists of oxygen and nitrogen atoms with Sr-O and Sr-N distances of 2.61 A and 2.69 A, respectively. The coordination number of Sr is eight, consisting of four O atoms and four N atoms. It can lead to the unfolding of the coordination structure of CaBR. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.